Photography

Last week I have decided to do something new. Still Life photography is not something that I had done before and I thought it could be quite interesting to try it out. So I bought me a sheet of glossy black perspex and spent one day trying to photograph water splashes and objects. I must say, I do enjoy it for the most part but with some objects, it can get quite tedious. Sometimes, you have to shoot for post production – and I don’t like that.

Water Splash And Glass

First, I started out in my garden. The best place to shoot falling wine glasses filled with water without having to clean up the mess afterwards – with exception to broken glass, of course.
I laid down the sheet of perspex on a table that I have out there and prepared a few buckets of water. Hung a black backdrop a few feet away so that I can strobe some colour onto it. For my second Speedlight, I placed it just behind my subject with a square softbox modifier to give my subject a highlight along the edge. Then, I began dropping the glasses down onto the perspex while attempting to trigger the shutter with my remote. Oh, it was so very tedious, I took more images than I could count. And among them, there were a few interesting shots.

I will most definitely go back to this on the future dates to try some more creative things.

Still Life Objects

Shooting still life can be a little less tedious. Although it can be quite annoying as I see myself needing to shoot for post-production to achieve the image I conceptualise. It requires a lot of attention to detail. Tiny bits of dust or fingerprint smudges on the object itself or the set – can really piss one off.

Never the less I did enjoy shooting still life. I will most certainly do it again. But first, i will look into techniques and kit I can use to achieve shots that I conceptualise without having to shoot for exposure blending, clone stamp tool etc.

A little while ago, I had a lens dilemma. I was looking to go to Lake District for a 9-day photography trip and I did not know which Pentax K-mount lens I should go for. At the time, as I was digging through many forums, looking for options and writing them down in a list. The List contains most of the Full Frame Lenses available for Pentax K1 – both new and discontinued. Today I have decided to share this list with you all.

Many of these lenses are no longer being produced and some could be considered as trash. Never the less, I am sure that many of you could find benefit in such a list as I could of – if it was available elsewhere. I intend to showcase the large collection of lenses available for Pentax K1. From second-hand trash, through second-hand gold and right to Diamonds in production.

Pentax Compatible Full Frame lenses that I am aware of…

{Disclaimer} – There are about 204 Full Frame K-mount lenses from Pentax/Takumar alone (Majority of which has been discontinued 20+ years ago).
I would just like to make it clear that I do not include many of them because I intend to try and stay within the 21st century. With exceptions to the best and those that are still available in mint condition.

You can have a browse through the Pentax native lenses dating back to 70’s HERE.

Some of the lenses that can be found new are marked green and linked to Amazon, their manufacturer or other retailers.

D FA / D FA★ Lenses – Pentax needs to hurry up and make more of these.

Last week I thought that it would be a good idea to pop out into my local zoo and take some pictures. I thought to challenge myself, to shoot animals looking like they are in the wild. Which meant no fences, people or man-made object in the shoots. A far more difficult task than I had anticipated. Given that most animals were entirely surrounded by fences, netting, glass and man-made objects. It was very difficult to compose the shots in a manner that made the animals look wild. And the 105mm limit on my lens did not make a difference on the animals that decided to stay away.

So, for the most part, I consider my assignment to be a failure. Although, I did get a few shots that look to be on a wilder side.

Wildlife Attempts

There were very few animals that I was able to approach close enough that I could eliminate all the giveaway elements of their captivity. Mostly, these were the walk-in enclosures. Only a few could be captured over the fences and through the glass.

Here are a few shots that I like.

Captivity Obvious

Now, I wish that I took a few more of these. I was so focused on finding the best composition for the ‘Wildlife look’, that I forgot to take pictures of what I liked. I could have taken images of people interacting with animals, documented the sadness of their captivity and more. But instead, I got so fixated on what I planned to do and missed it all.

Return To Seven Sisters Cliffs

The first time that I tried to photograph at Seven Sisters Cliffs near Eastbourne. I failed miserably. This was partly due to the limitations I had in terms of my kit – and the fact that I was not fully used to my new camera. Most of all, I failed because I did not stop to think and compose my shots the way I would have liked them. I was like a child in the candy store. Taking all that I could and decide what I like later. That is not the way I want to work. So, I took it upon myself to rid of this indecisive ‘one more shot’ sickness.

Ever since that first trip, I told myself that. If I’m not sure that I like the composition, I won’t be taking a photograph. I applied this motto to all of the photo sessions that I had. Slowly but surely I reduced the number of bad photos I took. This also forced me to think deeper into my images. When I would come across a scene where I knew it had a composition present. But I would struggle to find it through the lens, I would question why. I would find the elements that I did not like and figure out a way to eliminate them from those that I did.

I believe that an exercise like that will improve your workflow and ability to ‘see through the lens’.

Correcting My Flaws

On my way back to Seven Sisters Cliffs. I had an idea for some of the subject matter I would focus on. I knew that I wanted a photo of the lighthouse, an image of the seascape and that I wanted some abstraction and simplicity shots along the beach. But, all of the above had to be composed on the spot.

I would not allow myself to take numerous images of the same subject matter unless the lighting was a changing constantly. Even then, I would try and anticipate for the breaks in the cloud that would improve the image. I would not run around the same subject, thoughtlessly snapping away at the shutter. However, a small number of intended variations was permitted.

Following the rules above, I took a lot fewer images. But, more of them are usable. I can say with confidence, that I feel more pride when showing these as I know that they are as intended.

Lighthouse

Seven Sisters Cliffs

Seven Sisters Cliffs

Seven Sisters Cliffs

Seven Sisters Cliffs

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Here are 4 variations of the lighthouse. Taken throughout different times of the day.

Seascape

Seven Sisters Cliffs

Seven Sisters Cliffs

Seven Sisters Cliffs

Seven Sisters Cliffs

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These are 4 seascape images I liked the most.

Simplicity And Abstraction

Seven Sisters Cliffs

Seven Sisters Cliffs

Seven Sisters Cliffs

Seven Sisters Cliffs

Seven Sisters Cliffs

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Here are 5 of the simple and abstract images I picked out along the beach.

Post-Production Notes

If you have been reading some of my earlier posts, you might know that I am no fan of postproduction. Hence, I have a straight out the camera style. I exercise the perfection of my images by perfecting my composition. I attempt to better induce emotion through colour by customising my white balance settings and picture profiles. My post production usually consists of a couple of brush strokes to improve the image dynamic range, clarity, vibrancy and saturation to my liking.

If you have been following me on my social media sites. Then you probably know that, a few weeks ago, I went to Seven Sisters Cliffs for a day of photography. Generally, I am extremely disappointed with myself. I know that I could have taken far better images than I did. But, not all was in vain. The day was educational, to say the least.

It helped me realise some things about my photography that I had not noticed or given a second thought before. And ultimately, it raised some issues with my workflow and equipment that I think must be improved.

Workflow

When I bought the tickets, I didn’t know anything about the location. I had never been there before so I did not know what to expect nor did I have any specific shots in mind. I just thought that I’ll wing it.

At first, I did not know whether I should go there overnight or just for a day’s trip. When I realised that I could walk the entire stretch comfortably in less than 12 hours, with some time to spare. I decided to take a train to Eastbourne and walk all the way to Seaford where my return train would be waiting on the same day. Today, I wish I hadn’t done that.

Furthermore, I was a loose cannon. On my walk along the Seven Sisters Cliffs. I had noticed in myself that I rarely stopped to choose and compose the shot that I want. I always doubted my chosen composition and ended up running around taking 20 images of the same subject, good and bad. So that I can pick the best one later.

I’m not saying that this is always a bad way to work, some flavours of photography require you to do this. Sometimes, you do just see this variety of equally good compositions of the same subject and you just can’t resist. In other cases, this can also be a very good exercise to help one see more variations of composition on any given subject.

But, this wasn’t the case for me. I doubted my decisions. Perhaps it was because I did not have the ‘story’ or ‘mood’ that I wanted to portray. Maybe I felt pressed for time. So, I acted somewhat carelessly in an attempt to take more good images.

Equipment

Usually, I am not the one to blame my equipment for a bad image. I tend to blame myself for not getting to know my equipment well enough before I go out and do something like this.

But the set of filters I have bought on eBay when I was first starting out is just awful. I would have been, better off without them on this shoot but I decided to take it anyway. Basing my decision on some of the previous images I have managed to capture using those filters. Whilst disregarding the circumstances and conditions I used them under and countless failed attempts at a good capture. I have made a rookie error once again.

Secondly, I limited myself to a 90mm lens for all of the images. But, there was just so much more to capture that I simply couldn’t either approach or step further back from. This really limited my creativity.

Furthermore, I have made some pretty embarrassing setting mistakes with my new Pentax that I refuse mentioning to spear me the public humiliation.

Bottom line

I was a loose cannon, and I partly blame this on my decision not to stay overnight and give myself more time to think and shoot. I was rushing to get to the coast closer to Seaford because I had planned to get some sunset images from there. But, as I arrived at the location, it was not as good as I imagined it to be. I wished that I shot the sunset from a location that I had passed already.

Secondly, the lack of clouds in the sky really put me off. They would have added interest to the images. But for the majority of the day, the sky was blue and I felt reluctant to include it in my images.

Never the less, I enjoyed it. The day turned out to be more of a location recce and a kick in the butt rather than a successful photography trip. Although I did get a few images that are decent, I’m not proud of these because most of them were taken by luck. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go back to Seven Sisters Cliffs. But, having looked trough the images recently, I am certain that I will. There is no way in hell that I am just going to let this failure fly.

I’ve been stuck in a dilemma for the past few weeks now. I cannot make a decision on the next lens that I should buy. And I will most certainly need one for my trips to National Parks of GB in the foreseeable future.

I know that the range I want to take for my travels is somewhere from 20-200mm, preferably completed in two or three lenses. The Pentax 24-70mm + 70-200mm is the obvious choice. Although I can’t afford them yet, besides I don’t like the weight or size of the Pentax 70-200. Perhaps, I could go for the cheaper third party manufacturer such as Sigma or Tamron. But, of course, at the lower prices come disadvantages in quality and build. The consumer in me tells me that I should just buy the best, and the excuse he gives me is that I won’t need to buy it again before I leave for travels. Which is a good argument! But, the rational me, knows that I still need to practice and explore my range preferences. So I should go for something more basic for now. The dilemma doesn’t end there.

Taking into consideration that, in a few weeks I’ll be heading up to Lake District National Park. I plan to buy a new lens before I go as my Tamron 90mm won’t be enough. I have never been to Lake District before so I don’t know what to expect exactly. However, I do know that it’s a mountainous terrain with many lakes and caves. On one hand, a lens at a wider range will enable me to capture the magnitude of the vast land and waterscapes. Yet, on the other, a 70-200mm will allow me to compress the perspective and isolate my subject in an otherwise cluttered image. I don’t yet consider myself to be experienced enough to be able to tell you what lens range is my preference for a mountainous terrain. Especially, when I don’t know anything about the location.

Hypothetically dreaming, if I am shooting a sunrise from the top of a mountain whilst mist is rolling over the hills, and it reveals a beautiful symmetry with trees, in a distance. The image that is only as beautiful from my current perspective, and composition that works only when isolated from the grander things. God forbid that I miss that image.

I’m aware that there are those who will say that I should just buy a wide as I will be able to crop and crop on the 36MP image, but I won’t be able to go wider. There are also those who will say that one should have the option to reach the subject matter without any compromise on the image. I think this clash is due to each photographer’s workflow preferences, experience and skill. Some photographers don’t shoot to ‘fix’ the image in post. They compose the image as they see it on the field, then they release the shutter. That is how I want to work with my photography.

Sadly, I can’t yet afford the full 24-200mm range. But I am planning to take many trips around UK National Parks this year. So, I’ll need to settle on something. Hence, my reason is telling me that for now, I should go for the Pentax 28-105 or the new Sigma 24-105 (if Pentax is one of their mount options). Both lenses are better than decent and they cover much of the range that I want. So, I can rest in peace for a few months…

But, I want the big boy toy now!!!

I need some advice and guidance.

Please, if you have any wisdom and experience to pass onto me, post in the comments below. It will be much appreciated!

A little while ago I went to Richmond Park as I had an urge to photograph some deer. As my London readers might know, it is not an issue to locate deer in that particular park although getting close to them can be a bit tricky and it is deemed to be dangerous.
Anyway, to approach the pack I had to get through the flock of other photographers who were constantly attempting to get closer to the animal but essentially spooking them away.

After spending some time, trying to locate one singled out deer so that I would not get in the way of the ‘big lenses’. I managed to corner off a younger deer that none of the other photographers seemed to be paying attention to

The deer did not like me too much, no matter how hard I tried to make a sly approach he always took a step back. I think he was a bit agitated and fed up of us. He also appeared to be a bit camera shy. Every time I pointed the lens at him, he quickly hid his face behind a tree or in the long grass. After about five minutes alone time, we were finally spotted.

Another photographer sensed the opportunity and begun to approach through the long grass, making so much sound that even I felt distressed. It was almost like he was intentionally stepping on twigs and kicking the long dry grass to spook my subject. Upon his arrival, he nods at me in silence and turns on his Canon.

He then proceeds to approach the animal in a manner he thought to be silent. As he walked around the animal trying to find a good angle my attention quickly turned on him as I wondered if there was a technique that he would follow. Besides his conspiracy to get in front of my lens, lack of patience and his constant shuffling through the grass – I could not observe any tips I thought to be useful. Eventually, I decided to move on and find me a different subject.

A short walk later I discovered three large bucks resting in the shade. There was nobody bothering them other than a couple of ‘IPhonetographers’ from a distance. I took a couple of snaps as I walked towards them. When I was about six meters from the deer I took a knee and begun to devise my approach plan.

I would:

Sit on the ground, within the peripheral vision of the animal and I would stay low.

Turn my back or shoulder to the animal and pay him no attention.

Approach slowly and periodically whilst staying ‘small’ and not making any eye contact.

Once, I saw a similar technique on Youtube by an awesome Australian fella named Andrew Ucles, he used it to approach baboons.

This technique took me about 15 minutes to shuffle and crawl myself closer to the deer than I had ever been. I am sure I could off done it a bit quicker but I did not want to spook the animal.

In the process, there was a moment where he lowered his antlers at me. I believe he did that just to reinforce his dominance and show me that he was aware of me hence I proceeded anyway.

Shot at 28mm with an FF lens on a 1.5x crop sensor.

Soon, I found myself laying nearly at an arm’s reach from a large male bucks.

For a while, I stared into his eyes admiring the beauty and power that was within him. He seemed to be comfortable having me lay next to him. As minutes went past, I got more and more comfortable making quicker and more sudden movements. This one was not camera shy, not by any stretch. He even let me touch his face and antlers. When I reached out towards his nose, he came the rest of the way.

This was very exciting for me, I was spending some quality time with a new friend. He posed for my images and we both posed for passing by IPhonetographers.

Eventually, he decided that there was some other place he had to be. So, he simply got up, scratched his balls with his antlers and strolled away.

I am sure that in the true wilderness my approach wouldn’t have been so simple, as the beasts there won’t be so used to people. Yet, I still cannot wait to see the outcome.

Previously decided that I would much appreciate a new, better camera for my travels. One that was weather sealed, higher quality with a good low light capability and preferably light weight, my initial thought was the Sony A7R II. A very popular camera on the market that seemed to tick off many of my requirements.

After some research with my limited knowledge on various aspects of a camera, I pretty much settled on my decision to buy it. I thought that I should wait until January sales before purchase. Especially, with the rumours of the mark III to come out in 2017, the mark II was bound to drop in price.

Of course, the decision did not stop me from hunting for other options. I would ask myself questions such as. Do I need a full frame or crop sensor, and why? Is it better for me to use mirrorless or not, for my line of work? Are the batteries going to last me, and how much additional kit will I need for the camera? What would be the total weight and would I have space in my bag for it all? With these, amongst other questions, I would debate myself out of and back into buying this camera.

Seeking advice

One day I felt like visiting some of my favourite camera stores around Oxford St. and Tottenham Court Road, just to feel the cameras in my hands, browse for other options and prices, available lenses and accessories.

As I walk down Tottenham Court Rd. There is one shop called Spectrum that I always pop into. I have plentiful of respect for it and people working there. This is partly because, unlike all of the other camera stores in that area, people working there are not just salesmen, they’re not aspiring creatives or just successful applicants who memorised the brands. They are either professional photographers working part time or retired photographers, hence their knowledge, as their integrity and moral are superior to that of any other retailer in that area.

Introduction

I have a favoured employee at this store, his name is Phil. First time I met him was when I was looking for a new lens to marry with my Nikon. Phils knowledge blew my socks off. Instead of pushing me some lens of the zoom range I was looking for, he requested for the purpose and camera I intended to use it for, then he began to educate me and provided me with lots of resources where I could keep it up at home. Before sending me on my way he suggested a lens that he believed would be best suited for my need and informed me that they don’t stock that lens as production was discontinued.

This time when I popped in with an enquiry about the A7R, luckily he was there. He turned to me and said. “Why in the world would you want that camera? Who put you to it? A friend? The Internet?”.

So when I explained to him my intentions and thought pattern, he began to dismantle it all. Again, instead of trying to sell me a camera that I wanted to discuss, he gave me a list of cameras that were about a grand cheaper and better in terms of image quality, durability, suit for my needs, battery life and several other practical as well as technical aspects, and he quickly proved this to me. Above all, his proposition was that I buy a Pentax K-1.

Decision

Of Course, initially, my reaction to that was unpleasant. Previously, I hadn’t even considered Pentax as an option, but I admitted to myself that my knowledge on their cameras was next to none. So, I listened as Phil covered various aspects that I knew were important to me yet I was still very sceptical. This time, just as last, when I came looking for a lens. He simply educated me, gave me a list of cameras, resources and a Pentax K-1 brochure and told me to go and look into all of this for myself.

Sure enough, I did. And after a few days, I realised for myself that this camera offered everything that I needed and more. It is perfectly suited for my techniques and subject matter. All this at one compromise – the weight.

Now, that I have used this camera for a few weeks. Even with the temporary throw-away lens I bought on eBay. I can confidently say that this is the best DSLR camera I have ever used – so far.

I do feel bad however because I did not purchase this camera from Spectrum. Even considering the fact that this store promises to beat the price of any other retailer, including Amazon. I found it hard to decline the offer I got on Ebay for a brand new camera with one year of manufacturer’s warranty for over 250 quid cheaper than what Spectrum could offer.
Although, I will surely purchase some quality glass for my travels from them, along with some accessories.

On a side note

I am very happy to see a business with such integrity and high moral. It is very rare to witness something like this in today day and age.

I strongly advise that you – if you’re a photographer, pay them a visit. Not only do they stock all of the top of the range toys for all genres and flavours of photography. But they will truly and honestly help you realise the tools that you are going to need for the torturous path you may be planning to undertake. It is very easy to get sidetracked in this over polluted, complex and consumeristic nature of our business.